Machine Head drummer Dave McClain was recently interviewed by MetalKaoz.com. It's a longish conversation that covers the intra-band difficulties Machine Head went through while touring in support of their last album, The Blackening, as well as the writing and recording process for their most recent release, Unto the Locust, and more.

McClain recalls "one time in particular in Paris during the Slipknot tour; Robb[Flynn] and Adam [Duce] had some pretty serious problems and after we got off stage that night, Robb was ready to call it a day and just end everything right there. But he and Adam did some therapy together and kind of worked things out."

Regarding Machine Head's writing process, the drummer says "some songs come together really fast and it seems like they write themselves. And then you have other songs where something does not feel right and we have to try to find the missing piece. In the end, it is just a feeling that tells you that song is ready. Still, Robb is a guy who constantly has new ideas and always thinks how to make a song better. To really understand what I am saying, I will tell you that he was changing vocal melodies while the album was being mastered and mixed. Thank god that you cannot change something that is already done because probably he would be changing stuff to make things better after the album had been released...[laughs]."

He also reveals that there was material recorded and left off Unto the Locust: "We have actually two songs that didn’t make it in the album, even though musically they were done. But Robb was not happy with the lyrics and some of the vocal melodies. Maybe these songs will be released at some time in the future and I really hope they will. There is one that I wrote the music for and has Robb on the piano and some of the orchestra stuff that was on the album...I wrote the music some days after my mom had passed away, so it has a special meaning for me."

Machine Head are on the road right now in support of Unto the Locust; visit our tour page to find a show near you. And if you don't have a copy of one of the best-reviewed albums of 2011 yet, click here to get it!